Splatoon 2 Review (Nintendo Switch)

The original Splatoon for the Wii U was released just over 2 years ago, and I clearly remember not being excited at all, and didn’t expect that much from the game but it ended up being a surprise hit for the Wii U. It actually became one of the my top 5 games released in 2015, and as you can imagine I was more than excited when I heard that Splatoon 2 will be coming to the Nintendo Switch.

I didn’t have much interest in the single player of the first Splatoon game, and actually never even played the single player of Splatoon as it was purely a multiplayer only game for me. Now obviously because I’m reviewing the game, I must play the single player for Splatoon 2 so I can give my thoughts about it in this review, and it appears that I made a big mistake skipping the single player of the previous game as the single player was a fun experience in Splatoon 2.

I must admit that I didn’t have these thoughts at first, and thought the single player wasn’t very good. It didn’t take long after those initial thoughts for it to win me over. It feels like the perfect balance of a single player experience along with a highly detailed tutorial that will prepare you for the madness that is the multiplayer of Splatoon 2. There’s 5 world’s overall in the single player which consists of multiple zones with one of the many tasks being that you have to find the portal within the world’s for each zone. Each zone has a Zapfish which you will obtain after clearing the zones which platformer fans will enjoy. Each world will have a Zapfish amount that you need to clear that world, and will also unlock a boss battle for that world.

Splatoon 2’s single player is not going to keep you coming back to the game, and you can expect to clear it in just a few a hours. The real meat of Splatoon 2 is the online multiplayer which I can guarantee will make you want to keep returning to Splatoon 2. Like Splatoon on the Wii U, it retains it’s fast paced, short timed modes like Turf War with the object being that you and your team have to cover the map with the most ink while the opposing team has to do the same. Turf War is the perfect mode for portability with the games being so short as it allows for a few matches while you are travelling or if you have a few minutes to spare then a game or two of Turf War will be a great idea!

Like the original Splatoon, you will start off with the basic gun and clothing as you will need to keep playing online and rank up to unlock the better weapons along with clothing to customize your character more. All of these (once again like Splatoon on Wii U) can be found as stores within the free roaming in game hub which also includes the access to single player and multiplayer. Multiplayer at first will feel similar to single player in terms of a tutorial as you will only be able to play regular battles until you reach level 10 when it gets much more serious as you will unlock the ranked battles.

One of the biggest changes is quite obvious when you think about it, and that’s the addition of portability with the Nintendo Switch. I have to say that I was mostly playing Splatoon 2 portable, and it was running great with no issues at all. Splatoon 2 is going to be another showcase title for the Nintendo Switch due to it’s portability like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was because it’s easy to just pick up and play a few games whilst travelling. Now enough about how great the game is whilst in handheld mode, how is it when it’s docked? Well Splatoon 2 when docked runs at 1080p/60FPS, and looks great on the TV. Is it really surprising? Nintendo’s first party games can really boast when it comes to their art directions that can make other games running on the more powerful consoles look weak in comparison.

The Final Verdict

Splatoon 2 will feel very similar to the original Splatoon, and not much will feel different but is this a bad thing? I don’t think so because the original Splatoon was good enough that it didn’t need to change up that much. The big addition you should expect to get in Splatoon 2 is portability which as mentioned above is running great, and it’s my favorite way to play Splatoon 2 whether it’s travelling or even at home. If you were a fan of Splatoon on the Wii U, and you own a Switch then you should already know the excitement and fun you’re in for. If you’re new to Splatoon, and own a Switch then what are you waiting for? You need this game because it’s going to be worth it for sure.